In the early 1880s, the first train chugged into Dell Rapids. By then, the town had 993 residents and 50 businesses.

The first house was built on the north bank of the Big Sioux. Expansion soon followed, and over the years, the town grew to what is now 10th Street. Before 1960, however, what is now 10th Street was just a dirt road known only as “Lover's Lane.”

In the early 1970s Dell Rapids began a massive expansion to the north, blending the old with the new, and leaving only fond memories of “Lover’s Lane.”